The Long Painful Journey Back To Family
by Supernatural-Hannah888
Summary: Pre-series. AU. Sam gets kicked out of Stanford after a fight with another student, so he turns back to hunting but goes solo thinking Dean and John wouldn't want him back. Sam is 19, Dean 23.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.**

**Summary: Pre-series. AU. Sam gets kicked out of Stanford after a fight with another student, so he turns back to hunting but goes solo thinking Dean and John wouldn't want him back. Sam is 19, Dean 23.**

* * *

**_Chapter 1_**

Sam made his way through the crowds in the cafeteria towards the table where Jess and some of his friends were sitting but was stopped when a large body stood in his path "excuse me." he mumbled as he tried to step around the person but the body moved to block his path again. He looked up and was greeted with the angry face of Gary Harris, he gulped nervously knowing why Gary was angry with him, because he had insulted him in class, he had called him something along the lines of a dump-as-a-post idiot, he didn't mean to but it slipped out.

"What's the matter Winchester? You seemed so confident in class." Gary hissed in his face.

Sam sighed thinking he'd left these cocky jerks behind in high school but apparently not. "Look I'm sorry alright but just back off." He replied as he tried to move past him again but was surprised when a fist drove into his cheek sending him to the floor. He huffed in annoyance as he climbed back his feet. As soon as he was on his feet he glared at Gary who was smirking wickedly at him. He didn't really want to fight, he just wanted to eat his lunch, get through the next class and then go home and sleep.

"What's a matter Sammy?" Gary snarled as he approached Sam again and when he was close enough he swung his right fist again catching Sam on the nose. Sam stumbled back and saw red. He quickly regained his footing and launched himself at Gary sending them both to the ground and Sam pounded his fists into Gary's face and the guy struggled to get Sam away from him.

Sam after a couple punches and stood. He looked up and was greeted with another angry stare. From one of the teachers.

_"Shit" _he thought as he stared back at the teacher. The teacher pointed at him and yelled "You!" he shouted and then pointed at Gary who was being helped up by his friends "and you, Mr. Roberts office. Now!"

Sam swallowed, he knew this was bad. dealt with all the students when they behaved wrong, and to say he was a mean man was a compliment to the man. He had heard rumors that he had kicked someone out for just looking at him wrong.

**SPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNS PNSPN**

Sam and Gary sat in silence on one side of the desk and on the other.

"Well gentleman, I believe you two had a fight in the cafeteria."

"Yes sir." Both boys said in unison.

"This kind of behaviour isn't accepted in this school, I want you both to go pack your stuff and get off campus by tonight!" yelled.

"What?!" Sam gasped "No, please sir, I can't get kicked out! I'll have no where else to go!" he pleaded.

"I'm sorry but you made your own bed now lie in it." He said sternly.

Sam felt tears burning in his eyes as he stared in shock at the man.

_You walk out that door don't ever come back._

His father's words rang in his brain and he knew he couldn't go back to his family.

He stood and walked out of the room followed by Gary. He started to walk down the hall when he heard Gary call after him "Winchester! Sam! Wait!"

"What?!" He snapped angrily.

"What did you mean when you said you had nowhere to go?" Gary asked.

Sam sighed "my dad... He didn't want me to come here, wanted me to go into the family business. The night I left... He told me not to go back."

"Man, that sucks!" Gary said "sorry man I didn't know, I was just being an idiot."

"Sorry about your face." Sam said as he offered a small smile.

"Yeah... But you can apply for another college, can't you? I mean you're smart enough dude!"

"No I can't I only got in here because I got a scholarship. My family never had a lot of money, and other colleges won't give me a scholarship if they know about the fight." Sam felt tears building again, it felt like his whole world was crashing down.

"Jesus... I'm so sorry." Gary said simply.

"It's okay don't worry about it." Sam replied.

"So what are you going to do?" Gary asked.

"Yeah I dunno... Maybe I'll go see some family friends." Sam said "Bye Gary." he mumbled as he walked away.

**SPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNS PNSPN**

A few hours Sam was all packed and had said his good-byes to Jess and his friends, and he found himself on an empty bus, he didn't know where it was going and didn't care. It was then when he let the tears fall. He had threw away his only chance at a normal life, the normal life he had longed for since he was a kid.

A couple of hours later the driver kicked him off the bus telling him it was the last stop. He stood alone at the bus stop, unsure of what to do or where to go. It was getting late and he knew he would have to find some where to stay and quick otherwise he'd probably end up sleeping in a dark alley somewhere, that thought alone encouraged him to move. He headed into the unknown town hoping to find a motel.

Sure enough he found one 10 minutes later, it wasn't the cleanest of motels but he didn't care, he was exhausted and just wanted to sleep and then hope tomorrow would be a better day.

**SPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNS PNSPN**

He woke the next day and the situation that he was in had well and truly crashed down on him, he wished that he would've woken up in Stanford and all of it was just a bad dream.

He was alone, completely alone, he had barely enough money to last him the week and he was in a filthy motel room in an unknown town.

He remembered he promised Jess that he would ring her to tell her he was okay so he did, although it only made things harder because he knew he wouldn't be able to see Jess for a long time because she was always so busy with work and studying. She promised she'd ring him when she had the chance and maybe see him over christmas but Sam knew they were practically saying good-bye at least for a while.

After a few moments of trying to keep his tears at bay he had a shower and got dressed and went to find some breakfast. He found a small diner just down the road and ordered himself toast and coffee. He wondered if he should call Dean or his father just to let them know that he wasn't in college anymore just in case they needed him.

_"Of course they don't need me or ever will anymore, that boat sank the minute I said I wanted to go to college, they didn't even need me before that. I was just a burden, especially to Dean. I bet they're happy without me there." _he thought miserably.

"Here you go sweetie!" The waitress chirped as she put the food and coffee down in front of Sam. Sam mumbled a thanks before picking up his coffee.

"Are you alright honey? You look like someone shot your puppy." the waitress asked with a look of sympathy on her face.

"Yeah just a rough couple of days you know... I got kicked out of college yesterday." Sam replied.

"Oh dear, well you've got your family to go back to haven't you? I mean it's not the end of the world." She said in a soothing.

"Nah, I haven't seen my family since I left to go to college. I had a fight with my dad before I left.."

"I'm sure they'll want to see you." She assured.

"No they won't. Hey do you know if there's any jobs going in this town?" Sam asked trying to change the subject, he saw a newspaper on the table next to him and he leaned over and grabbed it.

"Yeah actually you can try the shop up the road, it's nothing exciting but it I heard it pays well."

"Great thanks." Sam said giving her a dimpled smile.

"I better go. Call if you need anything else sweetie." She smiled back and returned to the kitchen.

Sam looked over the paper and the title caught his attention.

"Another group of hikers go missing" The title read and Sam flipped through the paper to find the article.

"A total of 27 hikers have disappeared in the forest, to the west of town, over the period of 2 months." The first line said and Sam instantly knew something strange was going on in the forest, supernatural strange.

"Looks like a hunt." He thought _"I'm out of college for a day and I've already stumbled onto a hunt. I might aswell check it out, it'll give me something to do." _He nodded to himself, finished his breakfast and coffee and exited the diner.

The youngest Winchester had no idea that whatever what was in that forest was going to not only threaten his life in the worst way possible but also bring his family back to him.

* * *

**Please review guys.**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2_**

**Hi guys, it's been a while since I've updated any of my fics. If anyone is actually interested in them I am trying to update all of them so just bare with me.**

**Author's note: I'm not American, as some of you might be able to tell by the language and words I use, so any places I use in my fics I do find on Google Maps.**

* * *

Sam always loved doing research, more than the actual hunt. Sometimes he used to get so lost in it that he'd spend a whole day in the library or on his laptop doing it. Dean used to say he liked it because he was a geek but that wasn't the case, he liked it because he thought if they didn't loads of research they could find a way to the finish the hunt in the safest way possible. He only wanted to keep his family save so he took it on as his job to make sure they did tons of it, even if had to do it all himself.

After 5 hours of constant research he had narrowed whatever what was taking the hikers to 2 things; a wendigo or a werewolf. He was mentally preparing himself on the way knowing he'd have to be focused to get out of this hunt alive. Werewolf's and wendigo were nothing to play with, a whole group of hunters would have trouble taking down either of these monsters and he was having doubts in himself that he was crazy going in there alone.

One problem was that the only weapon he had was a gun loaded with silver bullets so he was hoping it was a werewolf. He knew the way to kill a wendigo was to burn it but that's only if you close enough without getting ripped to shreds. He hoped, if it was a Wendigo, that the gun would at least slow it down enough so that he could kill it.

He knew what he was doing was stupid, that walking into a forest with a gun and a packet of matches after a werewolf or Wendigo was pretty much like signing your own death sentence, but Sam didn't care, _"no one would miss me anyway. Hell, I've been away from my family for long enough that they've probably forgot about me." _He thought sadly and tears threatened to spill. He quickly pushed them away knowing he had to focus on the hunt. _"Maybe after this I'll get in touch with Dean and dad... That's if I get out of this alive." _He thought and picked up his rucksack and walked out of the door.

**SPNSPNSPNSPSNPSNPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPN **

_3 hours later..._

Sam panted as he shuffled slowly through the dense forest to the area where the mountain ranger, that he had talked to earlier, said all the hikers had been before they disappeared. He stopped for a moment to take a breath and wipe the sweat that was dripping down his face. It was only then when he realised how hot it really was, not that he could be surprised, it was summer after all. He couldn't help but think of Jess and all his friends he had made at Stanford, if he were still there he could've been just finishing his exams and finishing his first year there.

_"Maybe I'll call Jess after this, see what she's doing over the summer."_ He thought sadly, he missed Jess a lot he had only been gone two days, but he loved her. They had only been going out a couple of months but Sam knew she was the girl he wanted to marry.

He was so deep in thought that he almost didn't hear a twig snap and an animalistic growl behind him. He turned around quickly and had his gun up at the ready. He was surprised how quick he still was after a year of being away from hunting. He kept his gun up to where the noise had come from but there was nothing there and all was silent again. After a few moments he lowered his gun and started to think he was hearing things, but that was until he heard leaves rustling and a low growl behind him and he swung around again but he wasn't quick enough this time and all he saw was a long clawed arm swiping at his stomach and then he felt himself being lifted off his feet and thrown through the air. His flight was stopped when his back hit something solid and he guessed it was a tree and he fell to the ground. His vision blurred and he knew even through a muddled mind that he was about to pass out. A sudden pain below his ribs drew his attention to his stomach and he looked down to see that the bottom half of his t-shirt was stained dark red and there was three long slashes in the middle of the red. He quickly looked up before consciousness left him to try to see what attacked him. A tall, pale body with long claws was stalking towards him and he instantly knew what it was... Wendigo.

The beast came closer and Sam found himself losing against the darkness creeping into his vision and he happily welcomed it.

**SPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPN**

_Later that day, Layton, Utah..._

"Dean, have you found anything?" John asked his eldest who was sitting at the table on the battered laptop that Bobby had given him since Sam had taken his with him to college.

"Yeah actually. 27 hikers have disappeared over the last two months in a national park just outside San Francisco." Dean informed him without even looking up at him.

"Which one?" John asked knowing there was a few mountain parks around the San Francisco area.

"Uhhh... San Bruno Mountain State Park." Dean replied.

"Okay, we're only a couple of hours out so we'll stay here for the night and head out in the morning. If you wanna head out to a bar that's fine but be back at a reasonable time, we'll be leaving quite early." John said sternly and Dean smiled and closed the laptop.

"Sure you don't want to come?" Dean asked his father as he moved around the room collecting his car keys, key for the room, wallet and lastly, his jacket.

"No you go ahead, knowing you you'll find a girl to keep yourself occupied, you won't want your dad hovering around you." John said and smiled at Dean, he knew Dean was trying to keep him close. Ever since Sam left, Dean seemed quieter and kept himself to himself, he also tried to stay with John as much as possible, it seemed as if Dean thought he was going to leave him as well. He knew Sam didn't really leave them, he left hunting, but he had to admit, he was still a little bit mad with his youngest, but on the other hand, he loved Sam and was proud of him for getting into to Stanford.

"Okay, see you later." Dean replied and left the room and a couple moments later John heard the low grumble that was the Impala.

**SPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPN**

Sam came to and instantly realised something was wrong. He forced his eyes open hoping to be still in the forest, but those hopes were immediately crushed when he saw a group of guys hanging from their wrists from the opposite wall, which was rough, uneven stone and Sam figured he was in a cave, the wendigo's lair was his best guess. He looked up and also found himself hanging from his wrists. He then looked to his left and right, whilst turning his wrists in the rope that was binding his wrists together, and saw a young girl and boy also hanging from their wrists. Sam frantically tried to get out of his restraints but his efforts were useless. He glanced around the people that were stuck in the same trouble that he was in, and his nerves only escalated when he noticed that most of them looked dead whilst the others looked nearly dead, but all of them were covered in blood and unconscious and he knew that if he didn't get out of there soon he'd be joining them.

He struggled weakly but gasped when a pain in his lower torso made itself known and he remembered that the wendigo had managed to catch him with it's long claws before it knocked him out. He just hoped that he would get lucky and be able to escape or some other hunters would come and save him and the rest of the hikers.

* * *

**Let me know what you think of this chapter guys, please review.**


End file.
